Northumbria brings Westminster together to confront the nationwide opportunity gap

Northumbria University convened parliamentarians, policymakers, employers and sector leaders in Westminster for a breakfast panel on social mobility, examining what it will take to close the opportunity gap that still leaves a young person's life chances shaped by where they grow up. 

Minister for Skills Baroness Jacqui Smith joined Northumbria Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Professor Andy Long for the discussion, which brought the scale of the regional divide into sharp focus. Just 39.6% of 18-year-olds in the North East go on to higher education, compared with 60.6% in London – a gap that has more than doubled over the past decade. 

The panel was chaired by Katie Perrior, Founder and Chair of iNHouse Communications and former Director of Communications in No.10. She was joined by Baroness Jacqui Smith; Professor Andy Long; Dani Payne, Head of Education and Social Mobility at the Social Market Foundation; and Verity Wilson, Solution Architect at Accenture. 

As a research-intensive university in Newcastle upon Tyne with a long tradition of driving social mobility, Northumbria offered a working example of what an anchor institution can deliver: more than 40% of its students come from underrepresented backgrounds, and around 60% are from the North East. Real-world learning is built into every undergraduate degree, helping students gain the skills employers need – and Northumbria is now among the top 20 universities in the UK for the number of UK graduates who go into skilled jobs. 

That impact is felt across the region. Through its graduates, innovation and operations, Northumbria contributes more than £500 million to the North East economy every year. 

Widening access "not about doing anyone a favour" 

Speaking at the event, Baroness Jacqui Smith, said: "It is really important to this government that where you get to in life is not defined by where you come from. We have a world-leading higher education system in this country, but there is no point having that international asset if the people who could really benefit from it don't get the chance to get there and experience the transformative effect it can have on their lives. 

"Widening access is not about doing anyone a favour – it means universities have more talent, and that talent is put to the benefit of the country as a whole. Northumbria University is doing really good work to open up the opportunity of higher education to more students. 

"There isn't one easy answer. It needs universities, government, local government and employers working together – supporting young people from the earliest stages, opening up pathways after 16, and putting support in place, for example, through the reintroduction of maintenance grants – so that everybody who can benefit from higher education has a pathway to do so." 

Professor Andy Long said: "For Northumbria, social mobility isn't a talking point – it is the reason we exist. 40% of our students come from underrepresented backgrounds, and many are the first in their families to go to university. We see every day what changes a young person's trajectory, and it is rarely one thing. It is raising aspirations early, building genuine routes through from school and college, the mentoring and support that helps students stay the course and real-world learning that helps them develop the skills and networks to succeed in work. 

"Being an anchor institution means more than having a campus in a region. It means taking responsibility for the economy, the workforce and the young people around you. Almost two-thirds of our graduates stay in the North East and build their careers there. That is what it looks like to invest in talent rather than extract it – and it is a model that deserves to be made sustainable." 

The panel also explored the role employers can play in widening opportunity, drawing on Accenture's degree apprenticeship programmes in Newcastle – delivered in partnership with Newcastle College University Centre – and how skills policy can shift employer behaviour across the regions. 

Watch: highlights from the Westminster panel event  

The Westminster event forms part of Northumbria's ongoing work on widening access, social mobility and inclusive economic growth – a commitment reflected closer to home too. In July, the University announced The Bridge, a new partnership with Cambridge Education Group giving adult learners in the North East a flexible, employment-focused route into higher education, without the need for traditional entry qualifications. Delivered from Northumbria's Coach Lane Campus, the first courses – in Business & Enterprise Management and Digital Technologies – begin in November 2026, offering exactly the kind of practical, life-fitting pathway into higher education discussed at the Westminster panel. 

Initiatives like The Bridge and events such as this breakfast panel reflect Northumbria's ambition to be an anchor institution in the fullest sense: opening doors into higher education, wherever people are starting from.